Illinois’ Best Italian Restaurant? New Rankings Say It’s This One

I would think trying to name the best Italian restaurant in Illinois (or anywhere else) is a lot like trying to decide which one of your kids is your favorite. Italian food comes in at #3 on the list of America's most popular ethnic cuisine, right behind Chinese at #1, and Mexican at #2.

My point is that there are hundreds and hundreds of Italian restaurants here in Illinois, and the vast majority of them serve outstandingly good food. So, how do you pick a favorite?

I don't. I'm leaning  on the results of a new study from 247WallSt.com.

24/7 WallSt.Com Took A Look At Italian Restaurants In Each Of The 50 States, Along With Rankings From Sites Like Eater, Yelp, The Daily Meal, Fodors And Gayot To Come Up With Their Numbers

I thought it was interesting that 24/7 WallSt decided not to include Italian joints that only serve pizza, or pizza and a couple of other items only. They only looked at Italian places that serve pizza along with a variety of other Italian dishes.

In a nation where we eat 20-plus pounds of pasta and demolish 23 pounds of pizza per person on average every year, there are a lot of Italian restaurants to choose from.

24/7 WallSt:

Most likely every city or town in America has at least one Italian restaurant, and probably more. National Geographic reported several years ago that about 100,000 of the nation’s 800,000 or so eating places served Italian food of one kind or another.

Enough background. Let's get to Illinois' top-ranked Italian eatery.

Illinois' Top Ranked Italian Restaurant, According To 24/7 WallSt's Study, Is A River North Joint In Chicago

And that joint is RPM Italian. This is how RPM Italian is described on their website:

Located in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, RPM Italian is modern in approach and Italian in spirit, featuring a contemporary menu with dishes meant to be shared.

The sister restaurant to RPM Steak and RPM Seafood, RPM Italian marks the first collaboration between partners RJ, Jerrod and Molly Melman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises and celebrity couple Giuliana & Bill Rancic.

Take a look at some of their offerings, which will very quickly make you hungry: